how to say “to shed a tear” in Hebrew

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /]לְהַזִּיל דִּמְעָה

As I began writing this post I coughed and teared. The Hebrew expression for to shed a tear is להזיל דמעה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /]. It doesn’t exactly fit my coughing fit, since להזיל דמעה is a flowery expression that implies tears of emotion, not of disruptions in the respiratory system.

Here’s the expression in context:

[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /]בלוויה הוא לא הזיל דמעה, אבל בשבעה הוא בכה.

At the funeral he didn’t shed a tear, but at the Shiva (traditional mourning period), he cried.

להזיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /] means to shed or to cause to drip. It’s a הפעיל verb of the root נ.ז.ל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /] (as in the word נזלת[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /], a runny nose). Since this word predates the modern economic term of להוזיל[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /] – to make cheaper, I believe the makers of Modern Hebrew chose to add the oh sound to להוזיל, to differentiate it from להזיל – to shed.

דמעה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /] is a tear, while דמעות[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/להזיל-דמעה-#.m4a” /] means tears.